The Amethyst Rose

Chapters

1) Meeting at 'the Rose'
2) The morning after
3) Celestial dining

1) Meeting at 'the Rose'

She couldn't believe it, they were supposed to be her best friends. They were supposed to support her, and perhaps aid her in finding a mate. Well the last would probably be stretching it a bit. But this is not how she envisioned the night to go.

All had been in place, first the trip to Canterlot. All of it had been settled pretty easily. They had chosen to stay at a rather cheap youth hostel sharing a single dorm with the five of them. And after a few drinks in their room she would simply make the suggestion to go to this bar. Not just any bar, but a mare-only one. A rather well known one at that as well. She would have used it to come out to her other friends as well since Golden had known for years after overhearing her talking with her sisters. But instead of a happy ending to her coming out, the other three had reacted appalled and plainly kicked her out of the room. Not wanting to share it with a 'filthy fillyfooler'. Although she had to admit Brazen Force had voiced her mind the loudest.

Golden Harvest, good old Golden her oldest friend, had raced after her telling her that she would make sure her belongings would make it back to her house and that she would always be there like a true friend should have. Even going as far as complimenting the poor palish yellow pony for her bravery in confiding in them like that.

But here she was, almost a full hour later, at the place she had wanted to go to ever since she heard of it. But without her 'friends' it seemed to have lost a lot of its charm. But still it was supposed to be opened in the weekends until the time of the first train back to Ponyville. She might as well take a drink and wait out the time until she could return home. A single teardrop formed and fell, but she quickly shook her head trying to fight the somber mood as she entered.

For a exterior what looked a bit shabby, albeit what do you want when the bar is set in one of Canterlots less wealthy regions, its interior was simply amazing. The lobby had a large painting of a lavender rose, a legendary flower cultivated by mixing the stems of a light blue and light red rose. The tricky part was that no pollination may occur until the fusing had been completed. A feat deemed impossible, only a hooffull of botanists had managed to create one. She had chuckled a bit at the reminder of both the bar as the flowers name and the implications of it; the Amethyst Rose, a flower that needs no male to reproduce. The perfect name for a place where only mares could come and where many with a 'special preference' came to seek a mate. Whether that mate was for just the night or for a lot longer.

A bit of a sigh escaped her as she walked into the main bar-area. She could have been there with her friends, laughing and joking as they had done so many times before. She shook her head once more, refusing to burst into tears again. After all not all of them had abandoned her right? She still had her oldest friend, and she didn't see the other three much anymore anyway. Not since they moved out of town, chasing their own dreams. With a single thought she forced away the bitterness and somber mood 'Come on Rosy, you are finally here. Haven’t you always dreamed of going to a place like this? Cheer up, have a cider or two and then return home. As they always say; Come morning, come better times. Or at least it sounded something like that.'

Her first mug had been served with no less then a wink from the mare behind the counter. It had surprised the Earth Pony to see such straight forward behavior. Back home she had to conceal almost every action. It had taken her years to prepare for breaking the news to her parents and sisters. But here mares were openly flirting with her. A new feeling started to emerge, contentedness. Perhaps the situation wasn’t as bad as it seemed. Maybe she could still enjoy herself tonight.

A cider or two, three later Roseluck had been clearly having a good time. Her head was softly bobbing up and down to the beat of the soft background music. Her eyes had been wandering all over the dancefloor. She had seen a few pretty or cute ones dance or walk by. But so far she had consumed way to less liquid courage to actually try and hook up a conversation. Let alone a attempt to flirting.
But fate had other plans in mind.

As Roseluck walked out the little fillies room (hey all that cider has to go some place right?) she passed a scene she personally just could not ignore. Two Unicorns were standing in front of an third, who was huddling against the wall looking extremely scared. The dimmed lighting obscured her vision a bit as the music drowned out the conversation. But she caught glimpses of it non the less.

“ten years we have tried......”

“.. ly for a bunch of hillbillies to sna....”

“... friends, you simply wanted the re....”

“.. crushed the heart of poor moon....”

“..ove. For her it is only the bragging rights and the connection to the pr....”

The last comment had been almost nothing but a whimper. But it seemed to enrage the two aggressors. Their comment grew even more venomous causing the Unicorn to completely shut down, covering her head with her front hooves in a feeble attempt to defend herself from the onslaught.

Looking around Roseluck could see several large rowdy stallions approaching. Security was arriving at last. And not a moment to soon, the two mares had stopped their verbal abuse only for the leading one to raise her hoof in a striking pose and slamming it down upon the cowering Unicorn.

The strike had never landed. Without even thinking Roseluck had stepped in the strikes path and took the full force of it. Although force, she had known Unicorns did not posses much physical might but that strike had been ridiculous. She hardly even felt the thing, it had been more like a playfull swat with a rolled up towel. A second strike never came, the two assailants had already been restrained when she looked.

Half looking at the still laying mare Roseluck extended a hoof and softly, well softly in a musicly polluted room, she cued “You can look now, they won't be bothering you again tonight. So how about getting up from that mucky floor?”
Reluctantly the other mare removed her hooves, giving the Earth Pony a glare tear filled purple eyes. She didn't know the full spectrum of what had happened, but something was really wrong here. Whatever had transpired had been severe enough to almost completely break the poor thing.

Hesitant but still accepting the outstretched hoof the Unicorn rose. Even going as far as attempting to smile at the mare helping her. But anypony worth something could see that it had been forced and a ill veiled attempt to hide her feelings. But still surprisingly enough a few unexpected words had came out. Half sobbing and with a occasional emotional choke, but still one had to give credit for the attempt. “thank you.” The rest of her sentence however had trailed off into being inaudible.

There was something familiar about this mare, Roseluck just could not put her hoof on it. But it felt as if she should know her. As the other mare walked away towards the exit with flattened ears and a low head something just blurred out her mouth. “You should really not go out right now, they might be still waiting out there.” A confused look was the only reply she got. Something just broke in her heart at the sight of the Unicorns waterfilled eyes. They were they eyes of somepony who had just seen part of their world collapse and was still struggling to contain her emotions. Scratching with her hoof at the back of her head she simply continued “Well lets just get you something to drink, that way you can calm down a bit. And who knows, perhaps the world will look a bit brighter once you can collect your thoughts again.”
A small nod was the only answer she got, but it was sufficient for her. She might not had a good day herself, but at least she could make sure that this mare would be able to go home without being a sobbing mess.

Without much discussion the both of them had made their way to one of the many barlike rooms situated in the Rose. Roseluck herself had done a bit of exploring before settling down in the main room. There had been a few private area's for about four to six, but those had to be reserved, aswell as several bars, a main dancing area and even a dark room. The latter being the most isolated and appeared to be the most serene and calm. But she had quickly decided against it, not wanting to give off the wrong impression. Thus they ended up at a small room with quaint lighting, a small bar and various tables.

It was in this lighting that she had seen the Unicorn properly for the first time. If she had not been walking behind the other mare at the time it could have been really awkward really fast as her mouth fell open in surprise. She had seen the similarities, as in the coloration of the mane and coat. But now out of the hallways dim light she could now see the mare for real. And she could not believe her own eyes as in front of her walked that cute new librarian which had moved to her village a few months ago. The very same librarian who had been the cause of her sisters finding out of her preferences.

*
It had happened not long after the Nightmare Moon incident. Roseluck had been working in the flowershop her sisters and her had started together only a year or so before, when SHE had walked in. Of course the rumors of having the library re-opened years after the passing of Bookwurm, its founder and original owner, had reached them aswell. But she had not expected the new owner to be so young. She could not be much older then herself she looked like she was even a few years younger.

The moment the lavender mare had casually walked in with a small shoppinglist Roseluck had not been able to keep her eyes of the newcomer. Well toned flanks with just a pinch of fat on them, a very nice well formed and rounded plot and that smile. Great Celestia, that smile. It gave the Unicorns' eyes a small twinkle of mirth, and combined with a somewhat scholarly way of speaking just seemed to complete the whole package.
She was lucky she had been hidden by a few ferns and other potted plants, or that divine vision would have seen her gawking with open mouth.

An seemingly endless amount of time later her sisters had been standing in front of her. Daisy had been waving her hoof before her eyes as if trying to reconnect Roseluck with Equestria. When the pale yellow mare finally responded by blinking and closing her mouth it had been Lilly who had asked the fatal question.
“She was nice, wasn’t she? Polite as well.”

A dreamy sigh and even more dreamy response came out of her. “Yes, very nice and very cute.”

“Rose, I would not use the word cute and nice in that way to describe the new librarian.”

“True, Hot also comes to mind”

Both her sisters were now staring at her, their mouths attempting to find the right words. Their brains could not compute with the off-the-world stare and dreamy voice of their youngest sibling. Atleast not her having that state over an other mare. It was the oldest, Lilly, who found her voice the first. Teasingly but concerned like always she had aksed “Roseluck? Do you have anything you have been meaning to tell us?”
*

She had kept it hidden for 10 years, even during her brief foalromance with Cheerilee. And that had been difficult to hide. And now, the one mare who had caused her to accidentally come out to her a part of her family was sitting at the same table for two in a mare-only bar.

Awkwardly she shuffled her mug from hoof to hoof. “So euhm, feeling a bit better now?”
The lavender mare looked at her, a small smile had already been forming. But her voice was still off and missing much of the mirth it had when she was at the shop. “Yes, a little bit. Thank you for your help. And sorry for being such a burden.”

The downcasted look had returned, there had been something off about the mare. Nopony should be this down after a fight with friends. There was more here then meets the eye, but Roseluck determined that it was not her place to pry. “Its alright, I know how much losing friends can sting.” 'Celestia knowns I know how that stings.'

A awkward silence was all what followed. Until the Unicorn could not take it anymore. A sheepish grin came to her face as she spoke. “I just remembered, I have not even introduced myself. I am Twilight Sparkle.” She continued by rubbing her left front hoof behind her head. “And you look familiar but I cannot place a name.”

“Roseluck, and as for me being familiar. I run a small flowershop in Ponyville with my sisters. Wait, You are Twilight Sparkle the new librarian of said village right? Well if not, then I must inform you that there is a mare out there who needs to be apprehended for identity theft.”

That comment had been the ice-breaker as both mares looked at each other and burst into a massive fit of giggles. After the laughter died Twilight looked up and wiped a tear away. “Yes, yes that is me . But what brings you all the way from Ponyville to Canterlot? I was here to meet with my mentor and parents, so how about you?”

Roselucks cheery demeanor changed 180 degrees “I’ve always wanted to come here. So I came with my friends. But they did not react how I had hoped. But luckily one still accepted me for who I am. So not all is lost.”

The Earth Pony did not expect what followed, Twilight had gotten up from her seat, and simply placed her fore-hooves around her in a hug. She did not need words, the empathy radiating from the embrace said enough. She simply sat there and returned the hug, knowing the other mare had been through a similar event.

Strange as it was the pain from earlier that evenings sorrow was still throbbing, but it did not sting as much anymore. The soft embrace seemed to dull it. Both mares felt it but neither acknowledged it completely, but it felt right. It felt good to just be in the others hooves.
After a while both withdrew from it, only to come face to face with each other. Looking the other straight in the eye, soft green meeting deep purple enchanting the both of them to look deeper.
The embrace had left their muzzles with only a few inches in between them. A distance the visual enchantment their eyes had slowly made shorter. Untill lavender and pale yellow lips met.

A fleeting moment, a simple kiss. One lasting less then a second before both pulled away in shock. Violent blushes appeared on both of their faces as they took their seats once more. Neither wanted to look at the other but at the same time neither could look away. Hoping to create a 'normal' conversation “So euhm Twilight, why exactly did you move to Ponyville.”

And with that Roseluck got herself a front row seat on the fight against Nightmare Moon and its after effects.

*Much later into the night, nearing 4 am*

Twilight could not remember the last time she had this much fun. Not even during the festivities of Rainbows Rainboom and winning of the flightcup. Maybe it had been the numerous ciders, maybe it was the company. But something had made her ask the raspberry maned mare if she would like to come with her to catch a few Z's at her apartment since the mare had no room of her own to go to anymore.
What had followed had been a series of lewd comments as they swalked drunkenly across the cobblestone of Canterlot and the palace gardens towards their goal. A small servants-entrance of the castle leading to Twilight's quarters in the royal library.

Even with her mind fogged by a more then copious amount of alcohol Roseluck could only stare in awe during the last bit of the trip. Twilight had told her she had a small apartment in the city, but she never said anything about it being located in the castle. A small part of her wondered why she had it, was it because she was one of the elements or was it something else.
“So Twilight, how are we gonna do this?” Was all she managed to slur once their reached Twilight's chambers.

An equally slurred voice spoke back.
“Well I have requested a bed, but the servants were sleeping. So we’ll have to share the one present. Its big enough.”

Reaching the queensized bed they settled in next to each other quite quickly. Neither thought much about searching the cabinets for a second pillow and both just crashed their heads on the only one available. Their faces facing on the outer ends of a single pillow, crowded but just enough room to have a bit of privacy. Had they been sober it would never have happened. But here in the seclusion of Twilight's private chambers the moment of silence held something magical. Even in the darkness they had perfect sight of the other. A tender lavender hoof swiped a few stray hairs which had fallen in front of the other mare's face. Slowly their muzzles inched closer. Until Roseluck in her own version of dutch courage could not take it anymore and pressed in to kiss the mare who had stolen her heart months before.

Twilight on the other hand had been shocked twice by this. First by the sudden kiss and secondly by finding herself not only accepting the kiss but also enjoying it. Her mind was working overdrive, there wasn’t a fiber in her body who wanted it to stop. She wished that she had studied romance and all that goes with it.

Moments later they pulled apart, almost completely out of breath. The blush on Roseluck's face was almost into the infrared spectrum. Not knowing how her action had affected her companion she attempted to open her mouth to apologize. Only to have her mouth covered by a set of lavender lips once again. But to her surprise it wasn't only a set of lips. She could feel the weight of the lavender mare shifting her own body until she was on her back with Twilight laying on top of her between her hooves. Experimentally she started licking across the lips and teeth of the other mare, occasionally poking. The response had been almost immediately; resulting in her having access to the taste-organ of the Unicorn and was, at least what she hoped she was doing, pleasurably allowing her own tongue to play with it. But it had been rewarding especially after the other mare started to quietly stiffling moans in her throat. Something Roseluck had less luck with.

Even with the intensiveness of their activity they had no need to come up for breath for quite some time. But when they did and their eyes met again, it became very clear that they would not stop. A dam had been broken and nothing short of extinguishing the fire raging in their lions would get them to put a halt to their activities.

2) The morning after

The scent of stale sweat and old sex lay heavy in the bedroom as the two mares were starting to wake up the next morning. Their noses twitched and scrunched up due the scent of last nights activities. But to them it had not been as unpleasant as it would have been to another. Groggy by sleep they had reserved to snuggle closer to the other. A invein attempt to reduce their headaches.

But finally after having spend around a hour of drifting in and out of sleep and cuddling it came to a point that they would not be able to postpone their waking any longer. A gentle smile appeared on Twilight's face as she looked up from the chest she had buried herself into. “Morning sleepyhead”

Roseluck looked down at the mare in her hooves and a large blush appeared on her face. It had not been the first time she dreamed of such a night only to find out she had snuggled up close to a pillow or that oversized stuffed animal her granny got her when she was still a foal. But this time it had not been a dream, it had been very real. And that caused three sides of her to clash; one side want to jump out of bed screaming in fear of what had happened, a second wanted to repeat it and a third wanted to give a casual reply. Luckely for the mare in her hooves, the third side won albeit with a very small fraction from the second.
“Good morning to you aswell, or should I say afternoon. Because looking at the sun I’d say we missed the morning entirely.”

Both mares shared a look out the half closed curtains and the shining sun out side before looking at the other. Almost asif it had been planned in a play they bursted out in giggles. But not long after it the laughter died and grudingly they untangled themselves from eachothers embrace to get out of bed.

It was about half a hour later when both were atleast at presentable level that they were finally started talking again.
“So euhm Roseluck, you`re heading back to Ponyville now arn't you?”

A small nod and a “Yup” were the reply before the Earth Pony turned to face the other. What she saw there made sure her 'thanks for the incredible night and I would very much like it if we could maybe go to dinner sometime soon? ' died in her troath even before the words had formed. Twilight had stood before her, blushing like a madpony and akwardly shuffling her front hooves. She was at the brink of hiding her own face for Celestia's sake. It had been behavior one could expect from a pony like Fluttershy, not the normally so outspoken Twilight Sparkle. Something was wrong, and quite frankly it worried her a bit.
“Twilight, is- is something wrong?”

In a small but still very clear voice came the reply “Would you. Could it be possible that.” The scholary mare swallowed once before closing her eyes “WouldyoulikeittostaywithmeuntillIleavemyselftomorrowevening?”

A few blinks and a somewhat lenghty thoughtsession were the initial response. Slowly the still hungover gears of Roseluck's brains began turning as they processed the question.
The silence hung for a moment until a coy smile came on her face. “Did I hear that correctly? Becouse if I heard what I think I did, you just said you might want this to go beyond a little one night stand?”

The embarresed look on Twilight's face had not been worth the small joke, the mare looked like she was ready to sink trough the floor. Not a sound came out of her. It had been reason enough for Roseluck to start feeling a small knot forming in her gut.
'stupid Rosy, after all you talked about last night you should have known she would not be able to pick up social clue's like that.'

Still wanting to slam her head against the wall for potentially ruining the very thing she'd been wanting for quite a while she carefully walked towards the dejected Unicorn. With a small nuzzle to the others cheeks she hoped to get the lost attention back.
It was not until Twilight had raised her head a bit to look at Roseluck that the reply came in a soft whisper. “If that is what you want, of course i`ll stay with you.”

The raspberry maned pony was not prepared for the tackle-like hug that followed. Resulting in the both of them being send to the floor. Twilight had been the lucky one, her fall had been caught by a nice semi-soft Roseluckpillow. The 'pillow' however had not been so lucky, but the soft fur and warmth of the mare on top of her made up for a lot of the landing.
A few moments passed with simply being content with being close to the other when a thought entered Roselucks mind. If she were to stay for nearly two days longer she would really need to contact her sisters. Making sure they would not be worried to much. Especially since Golden would most likely be telling them what happened somewhere this afternoon.
“So Twilight, not to interrupt but I have a question i`d like to ask.”

The lavender mare raised her head and cocked it slightly to the side in a questioning manner. Curious to what the other wanted to ask.

“I need to contact my sisters. By now they would have learned about what happened. And need to let them know that I will be staying a day longer.”

A moment later a quill with ink and paper had placed themselves infront of her and within minutes the message had been written and send.
Twilight had explained that she had been linked to her assistant for years, it had allowed them to communicate by letter. Just as she had always done with her mentor. A mentor who's name Twilight had yet to mention. Something Roseluck had been more then a bit curious about. The other mare had mentioned this teacher a few times but always eluded on the details everytime she had asked about more information. Either it had been a very closely guarded secret or it was something she didn't want to be known.

A loud rumble almost shook the room, a quick scan of the room revealed a very embarresed looking Roseluck. “So very late breakfast?”

-*-*-

Down at the local flowershop two mares had been hearing quite the tale. Golden Harvest had stopped by to return Roseluck's saddlebags to their owner. Only to be very surprised to see she was not there, even more odd was the fact that she hadn't even arived yet.
And now the two co-owners were hearing that their sister had basicly been kicked out by Brazen Force and Silver Wind. Altough Golden had admitted that it was mostly Brazen.

Their combined worry had reached almost the level of which they would set out and hunt their little sis down as Golden Harvest had left them to drop a rather heavy message at the doorsteps of her old friends commander. They had already been planning to close up and go home to pack for a trip to Canterlot when the shopdoor openend and a small purple dragon rushed in clutching a scroll and a small bag of writing utensils.

Spike had clearly been in a hurry, completely out of breath he huffed “Message for Daisy and Lilly. Don't ask whats in it, Twi just told me to deliver it and wait for a reply to send to her.”

A comfy chair and a large mug of tea for the dragon later both Earth Ponies had opened the lavender seal on the scroll. Instantly their eyes fell on the near hieroglyphic scribbles they knew to belong to Roseluck's writing.

Dear sis's,
First of all, don't tell Spike whats in the letter. He'll learn sooner or later if all works out.
As you might already have heard, things did not work out as planned and have let to a major falling out with my friends. Altough Golden is still on my side ( truth be told, I think she's secretly playing for both teams if you catch my drift)
But enough of that depressing talk. I'm dropping a line to let you know that I am doing better then just being ok.
Last night I decided to visit 'the Rose' anyway, even if my friends were not there with me. Altough the plan was to sit the time out until the first train I met somepony there.
A rather cute libririan, you know who I mean, and we got talking a bit. Talking over a cider let to something a bit more then just talking.
Just now we talked a bit more and I have decided to stay for a day longer to get to know eachother a bit better and very much hoping for a chance with her.
Please send let Spike send a message back to let known that you got my little note.

Rose

The two mares looked at eachother both thinking about the same sentence in the letter 'let to something more'. The more they thought the more of a blush appeared on their faces. But when their eyes met they both knew what to do.

Moments later Spike went home to go back to sleep with a job well done, not knowing he had just send his friend/sister a rather teasing message with a confirmation that Roseluck could stay for as long as she'd like if it meant her to be happy. But still, in the back of the minds of its writers there had been a slight doubt. They really hoped that it would work out becouse they could not bare to have their little sis's heart to be broken.

-*-*-

In the middle of a rather extensive brunch the two mares had been talking about themselves a bit. Altough it had mostly been Roseluck doing the talking about her studies in botany and her dreams of cultivating rare flowers from the Everfree in order to cultivate a whole new culunairy experience.
They had been talking for a while when the message came back by means of a rather violant burst of purplish red magic.

A few switfly scribled lines were all it contained. But it had been enough for Roseluck to develop a serious blush before dropping the note. Luckely she dropped it on the written side so that Twilight could not read it.

Hey little sis,

WOOHOOO! You finally got some tail eh. Or should I say under some tail?
Don't worry about your shopduties Lilly and I will cover for you.
But remember we want details......

Love,
Daisy

One could almost hear the older siblings's sing song voice in the last bit. “So what did it say? Can you stay? Cause I already have the day fully planned. Altough it was scheduled for me being alone. But i`m sure we can manage to create a perfectly sound schedule from what I already posses.”

The blush on Roseluck's face faded a little. “Yes, they said they would cover for me while i`m away.
So whats the plan chief?”

A small scroll leviated from Twilight's saddlebags revealing a tightly fitting schedule. Even going as far as scheduling toiletbreaks and the time it would take them to reach their destinations.
It had amazed Roseluck that somepony could actually achieve such a planningfeat, and there had been no doubt in her mind that the Unicorn would actually be able to pull it off, but she on the otherhoof was only a mortal pony. There was no way she would be able to keep up. Hesitant as she was she knew something had to be done. Otherwise there would be a lot of sightseeing but absolutely no time for the two of them to get to know eachother.

“Twilight, I don't think we can manage all of that in one day. How about we go to the highlights you selected. Like after brunch we head to the national museum, then we go to take a late tea at the gardens take a look arround there before we go look for a place to eat?”

The scholar looked a bit dejected at the rejection of her planning. There had gone a lot of work into it. Ponies often underestimated the time it could take to precisely micromanage one's time. When one had only so few hours in a day but so much to do. Why not take advantage of every minute? And by strickt planning one could do juist that. Besides the fact that less room for dillydallying meant less room for mistakes and tardyness.
But a small part of her mind could see the reason in the request made, it had the side effect of getting to know the other mare a bit more personal. And a slower pace of things would be a nice change.
A small sigh escaped as she decided to trow out her carefully made schedule in her mind.
“Alright, we`ll do it your way. First the museum then the gardens.”

About an hour or three later both mares exited the museum grosely disgusted by what they had seen. Twilight had wanted to go there becouse of the large exhibit they had just recently created regarding the elements.
But it had turned out to be a masive waste of time. Of course therehad been many items regarding them, but almost 99% had been very recent and under heavy artist interpretation.
Some had the six mares pictured in the heavy armor of the royal guard standing infront of Celestia in defence. Others had even pictured them as a group of noble stallions, all em them had been the supposed 'elite' of society. Obviousely those who made those pieces of 'art' had been heavely sponsored.

Other exhebitions had been a huge letdown, even Twilight had been caught sighing out of boredom. But atleast now they had something to look out for as they wandered into the castle-gardens towards the secluded private gardens for a late afternoon tea.

Altough they had no idea a set of light magneta eyes had been following them from the moment they had entered the secluded grounds from one of the many castle windows.
Neither did they know about the large almost smirking grin appearing on the owners muzzle as they saw the two mares walking flank to flank.

Author's Note

O.o
I am sooooo sorry, i thought i had published this chapter nearly 2 weeks ago O.o
Aswell: i am currently searching for a decent editor/proofreader. Now that i got a tad more free time on my hands i expect i`ll find one soon and the quallity of the spelling and grammar should increase.

3) Celestial dining

Roseluck could not believe her eyes as she was wandering through the 'forbidden' section of the gardens. The last time she had been to the castle grounds was on a school trip, but even their professor, the renowned botanist Amerylis, had not been able to get them into here. And now here she was. Walking in Celestia's private garden with Twilight.

How had the mare been able to do this? They had simply walked in, but where Amerylis got barred with a couple of spears, all Twilight did was simply nod to them, and they let them in.

But still, with her confusion aside, she looked at the various flora around her. The small patch of ground had lived up to all her astronomical expectations. However, her musings were caught short by the voice of the mare with her.

“Well here we are, please take a pillow. I believe tea will be served in a few moments.” As the lavender mare took a seat of her own, she looked nervously at her companion, who had been silent for almost the entire trip through the garden.

“So euhm, what do you think of it?” Looking around once more, Roseluck saw a teak pergola covered with bright white spring snowflakes which, like all other flowers, seemed to defying nature by staying in bloom even during autumn.

The fading light shimmering through the lushly leaved silver ferns gave it all a fairy tale-like feeling.

The setting combined to the radiant mare waving at her was enough to cause her to start stumbling over her words. However, a deep breath later, she managed to get a half-decent answer out. “It... it’s simply beyond words. How did you even manage this? Not even the university and my professor could get us in here when we visited.

The question placed Twilight in a rather difficult position, as she had no intention of revealing her close relation to the princess. As she thought, Roseluck joined her at the small table, looking at her with an expectant gaze. It had been a gaze similar to what Moondancer had once given her years ago. With the thought of that mare,came a idea on how to explain. She just feared that Roseluck wouldn’t even want to be near her for the deception, or, even worse, that she would turn into a proverbial gold digger. With a deep breath she looked down and started to talk, hoping for the best. “Well, its like this...”

She was cut off as a small bell interrupted her speech, an indication that their tea had arrived. Both mares watched silently as the tea was poured and placed. Twilight, because she did not want the maid to interfere with her explanation, and Roseluck because she did not want to seem rude and potentially ruin her chances with the mare by pestering her to continue.

But before the maid left she turned to Twilight. “M'lady, your mother wishes to know if you and your marefriend will be joining her for dinner?”

Both mares looked and each other and blushed heavily before looking at the maid.

Twilight was still doing a very good impression of Big Mac's coloration as she replied. “Y-Yes, please let her know we will be there.”

The maid just nodded and smiled “Perfect, I shall be sure to send somepony to fetch you two.” With those words she left the two still blushing mares behind. Nearing the end of the small clearing she turned around and added with a wink “Now have fun and don't do anything I wouldn't do.”

The awkward silence in the air was so tense that if it had been stretched any further it would have snapped clean in half. At least it was, until Roseluck found her voice again.

“So euhm, Marefriend eh?” Her voice had been steady and calm to the point of almost having said it jokingly. But internally her heart was pounding. This was it for her, that small chance she had been hoping for for a few months by now. To not only get to know that cute Unicorn better,but also convey her own feelings. Spending the night and the day with her, those feelings has only grown.

Sure, there was that slight neurotic tick, and the seeming obsession with scheduling. But those traits could be worked on with some TLC and patience, and besides, it was kind of endearing as well. But that soft personality and sparkling character, intelligence and caring combined. And that was just the tip of the iceberg of why she like the mare. Besides the obvious nice round plot, cute face, and as she discovered last night, very nice taste and a even more nimble tongue. What was there not to like about her?

And all that made the following words come even harder. “Well, we could be you know. That is, if you want to try. Being marefriends I mean.”

The last words came out a bit mumbled as she could barely hold her own courage together enough to look even remotely at the other mare. Who had, in turn, been shocked into needing to reboot her brain.

But after a few silent moments of no answer Roseluck dropped her head, only to have a gentle hoof pick it up. No sound had been made when a pair of soft lips gently kissed hers to snap her out of her self-imposed stupor of rejection.

“I- i'm not sure where it will lead, but like a experiment one might never know where the outcome leads once you begin.”

Twilight proceeded by removing her hoof and simply look into Roseluck's eyes “What I am trying to say is that yes, I think i`d like to at least try. But we can sort out the exact hows and whats later on, but first I kinda have something to tell you before I get to introduce you to my adoptive mother.”

Setting herself down on her pillow again Twilight looked at the other mare. Her face previously a tad flustered but smiling had changed into anxious and serious. With a deep breath she let out a sigh, obviously not comfortable with what she was going to say. Something Roseluck picked up quite well.

“Twilight, listen to me. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I`m sure I can handle not knowing her name and why you are adopted in the first place.”

This elicited a brief but genuine smile before the lavender mare sank back in her previous mood. “The thing is Rose, nopony who knows this about me has ever treated me normally afterwards. But if we are going to atleast try and create a stable relation then it is pretty vital that you know the whole truth before meeting her.”

The raspberry maned mare tried to speak but a raised hoof from Twilight stopped her. The Unicorn closed her eyes and took a deep breath to steady herself for the story what was to come. She just hoped her story would be believed and not seen as some rather far-fetched bragstory.

“About 12 years ago, when I was just a little filly my biological parents brought me to the entrance exam of Celestia's school for the gifted Unicorns even though was only five at the time and by their standards nearly five years too young to even start to try and apply. Simply because I had not only been able to use levitation more than three years before the typical Unicorn could, but I had fully mastered the spell to the point that my skill and that of an adult were on the same level.But during the exam, something triggered a dormant part within me and caused my magic to go haywire.

“Long story short, after having overpowered nearly every safety ward in the examination room, and using Spike as a growth-spurt-induced ceiling redecoration, I attracted the attention of Princess Celestia herself.After several attempts, she was finally was able to seal much of the excess energy I was emitting away. Impressed by the sheer power of a filly barely old enough to be in magical kindergarten, she took me in as her personal protogé. I was overwhelmed with joy to be hoof-taught by the princess herself.

“But my celebrations were cut short, a month had passed when a lawyer sent by the high nobility stopped by my parents. They had been orederd to withdraw me from my tutelage under Celestia because it was against an ancient law the nobles had passed. To put it simply, the never-before invoked law states that only a member of the either the highest noble families or the royal family could be taught by another member of one of those groups.

“The Princess were furious, of course, but she knew better than to try and fix old wrongs by rubbing those snobs the wrong way. Instead, she chose an unexpected route and somehow got my parents into the deal as well. Her idea was for them to give me up for adoption and that she would then adopt me. That way I would technically be a direct relative of Celestia and thus a high ranking member of the royal family meaning that any of those 'tradition protection' laws would be completely bypassed.

“So there you have it, I am not just another mare or just the royal protogé. But I am,by raising and law, Celestia's daughter and therefore a princess in my own right. However, I never took on the official title as a princess. And yes, I do still see my biological parents on several occasions.”

All Roseluck could manage was the blink a few times while the information was slowly processing. The only rational thought to come to her was why she had never heard of this before. It would be more than logical that Celestia adopting a little filly would be world-shattering news. However she was so lost in thought she never heard Twilight mentioning that a complete media-silence surrounded her after a rather rude paparazzi had started stalking her in order to get pictures, leading to one being published of a small filly Twilight being bathed by Celestia. And that because of the media-silence her identity had faded into the fog of more 'important stories' making her more like a urban legend than real news, unlike certain other members of the royal house.

Her brain still a bit awkwardly scrambled from the revelation of her newly found marefriend all she could utter was “Well if its not much to ask, do you perhaps something suiting to wear I can borrow? To be honest I wasn't expecting to meet your parents and brought nothing appropriate for a dinner like that and especially not as formal as it appears to be now.”

The still little confused face on Roselucks face combined with somewhat joking manner it had been spoken in elected a giggle from Twilight. Who in her own right had been relieved. The exact manner Roseluck was behaving soothed her a bit. Her ex only had eyes for her because of her connection to the princess, not for who she was herself. A small tear formed and was swiftly shook away at the the thought of how she and Moondancer had split up. The other mare crying out to take her back while that blasted stallion was still mounting the cheating mare. Perhaps there was hope, perhaps Roseluck was different and was the genuine thing she had often read and dreamt about. But like with everything she knew that only time will tell. It was a thought consuming her mind enough to stop her from worrying too much about the upcoming dinner.

~~~

It had been close to dinnertime as Twilight and Roseluck were walking towards the dining hall, their tails had intertwined a little. It had not been a full on braid like many couples often had, but it was obvious to all who looked closely enough that the colors had mixed instead of just two friends walking beside each other. They had stopped at the door when they heard two guards talking about the obscure punishment Princess Luna had administered to two rookies for dishonoring the armor. One had been sentenced to serve prince Blueblood as a personal bodyguard for a full year, the other was given an undercover assignment along with a maid who, unfortunately for the newly appointed guard, had been absolutely smitten with him to act as a couple while investigating the claims of discrimination from a local landlord.

The descriptions mentioned sounded very familiar to Roseluck, but she kept her chuckle to herself, but miserably failed to keep her smile in check. At least one of them got what she deserved. She only hoped it would be Brazen who was stuck with a mare. Maybe then she'll learn why mares are so much better than stallions.

A gentle voice snapped her out of her daze. “Rose? I hope you’re ready because we're here.”

When Roseluck looked a bit more around she could see that they had passed through a set of oak doors.

A large table had been set within the middle of the chamber, Roseluck had to admit if she wassnt freaking out over the fact that she was going to be dining with not only her new marefriend's fostermother but also the ruler of the entire nation, to be honest it was kinda freaking her out right now. And setting eyes on said ruler who was patiently waiting on the two of them with a patented everlasting smile.

The only comfort was the lavender mare brushing softly against her coat as they walked in side by side.

Well the comfort only lasted until the princess spoke up. “Ah, Twilight so nice of you to come. I was hoping we could at least spend one dinner together.” The Alicorns gaze then turned to Roseluck, who in her turn was shuffling a bit awkwardly and uncomfortable under the direct gaze of the solar diarch. “And welcome to you as well, Miss Roseluck. I'm pretty sure that further introductions are not in order, so please be seated.”

The dinner went rather well, and surprisingly, the princess' mask of an everlasting smile dropped for a few minutes in the whole ordeal revealing, a ordinary mare who just happened to have a few more centuries of life-experience. Although when they had left Roseluck was absolutely terrified of breaking Twilight's heart. Receiving the 'protective parent/sibling' speech from a immortal demi-goddess has a way of placing the fear of the creators in just about any soul. And now she was laying back into the same bed they had slept in last night. Twilight had curled up snuggling against her, softly snoring a bit. The Unicorn had done quite a bit to ease her mind on the little speech she had received when Twilight had been 'asked' to see when dessert was ready. But still it was a bit freaky.

Freaky, but not something she could not look passed. Sure it would be strange having a marefriend who was the rulers’ adoptive daughter, but she knew that the relatively normal life she had now meant more to the mare in question then titles and all that came with it ever would.

Author's Note

Please know the following:
This will not be a twilycorn fic, nor will her being Celestia's adoptive daughter carry a large role in the fic. It will be used for a few minor items, so don't be alarmed by it.

Aswell a very great thanks to Zenith042 for editing the chapter

E/N:
So this was the first chapter I properly edited. If you have any issues with the grammar/spelling, please notify me!